Coop-fastening.



G. W. FLETCHER. I

COOP FASTENING.

APPLIQATION FILED MAR. 14,1913.

1,109,057. 7' Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

ay/ya iflflair fier nventor, by I r 1/ Attorneys.

GEORGE W. FLETCHER, 0F MENDON, ILLINOIS.

COOP-FASTENING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

Application filed March 14, 1913. Serial No. 754,310.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. FLETCHER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Mendon, in the county ofAdams and State of Illinois, have invented anew and usefulCoop-Fastening, of which the following is a specification.

This invention aims to provide novel means for holding a removable slatupon a coop, the construction being such that pressure against theremovable slat either from within the coop. or from without the coopwill be ineliective to disengage the'slatfrom the locking means wherebythe same is held in position.

With the above and other objects in View which will appear as thedescription proceecls, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing Figure 1 shows the invention in perspective; Fig. 2 is atransverse section; and Fig. 3 is a perspective of the means whereby theremovable slat is locked and held in position.

In the drawings, the coop isdenoted generally by the numeral 1 and maybe of any desired form. In the present instance, however, the coopcomprises a bottom 2, side,

walls 3 and end walls 4. The top of the coop comprises a plurality ofspaced, longitudinally extended fixed slats 5 which may be secured inany desired manner to the side walls 3 and to the end walls 4;.

The end walls at are provided with notches 6 adapted to receive aremovable slat 7. Keepers 8 extend across the notches 6 and overhang theends of the removable slat 7 the keepers 8 being secured to the upperedges of the end walls 4.

The coop may include an intermediate partition 9 rovided with a notch 10adapted to receive t e removable slat 7. A keeper 11 is shown, the samehaving-openings 12 adapted to receive securing elements 14 whereby thekeeper 11 may be held upon the upper edge of the partition 9, the keeper11 extending across the slot or notch 10. A spring arm 15 is attached bymeans of securing elements 16 to the upper face of the keeper 11, thespring arm 15 being equipped with a transverse head 17 which outstandsbeyond the edges of the keeper 11. Adjacent its free end, the spring arm15 is equipped with a depending finger 18, extended downwardly throughan opening 19 in the keeper 11, the finger 18 passing through anopening20 in the removable slat 7 as will be understood best when Fig. 2 isexamined.

In order to free the removable slat 7, the spring arm 15 is lifted atits free end, the fingers of the operator being engaged with theprotruding ends of the transverse head 17, and in this manner, thefinger 18 may be withdrawn out of engagement with the movable slat 7whereupon the removable slat may be slid endwise out of the openings.

It is to be observed that when a downward pressure is exerted on top ofthe spring arm 15, the finger 18 will merely be thrusted farther intothe removable slat 7. Likewise, if

an upward pressure is exerted against the lower face of the removableslat 7 the slat 7 will be pressed upwardly upon the finger 18, and, ineither event, a release of the slat 7 by pressure will be avoided.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed is In a device ofthe class described, a coop including a wall having a notch in its edge;a flat straight plate secured at its ends to the edge of the wall andextended across the notch, the plate having an opening located withinthe contour of the notch; a slat located in thenotch and disposedbeneath the plate; the slat having an opening which is alinablewith theopening in the plate; a

flat spring arm disposed on top of the plate and of substantially thesame width as the plate, the arm resting upon the plate, the arm beingprovided adjacent one end with a stud which is engaged in the openings,the armbeing broadened adjacent the stud to form a finger piece, and theplate serving to space the finger piece from the slat; and a securingelement uniting the other end of the arm with the plate only.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. FLETCHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. j g

